On May 20th almost 50 participants, mainly consisting of the CINEMA partnership and their stakeholders, had the chance to visit Košice/Slovakia. Due to COVID-19 only virtually of course, but nevertheless it was a great opportunity to get to know the methods and initiatives Košice has implemented in order to support the local CCI and establish their city as a hub for arts, culture and creative industries. Organised by CIKE, one of the Slovakian partners, we learned a lot about the Košice 2.0 project. It is being implemented thanks to the EU Urban Innovative Actions Initiative (UIA) with the aim to support innovative and experimental sustainable urban development projects beyond what cities would normally fund themselves. Košice became the first city in Slovakia to succeed in the challenge. Over the next three years, nine partners will fulfill their common ambition to transform Košice into a creative city with a high civic engagement level. The goal of the Košice 2.0 project is to build a creative ecosystem in which individual stakeholders (local government, population, business) will coexist, cooperate and make informed decisions to improve the quality of life in the city. Furthermore an infrastructure has been implemented to provide creatives with added value. It intends to become home to creative enterprises and start-ups within three years. So Bravo Hub is not just about physical space, it is a place which, with its atmosphere, layout, equipment, and, last but not least, people, creates ideal conditions for the emergence of original ideas. After a really nice video tour of Bravo Hub and meeting some of its residents CIKE introduced us to its support activities for the CCI with project presentations on education, policy making, networks, and cross-sectoral cooperation. Don't forget to check out the video tour for yourself.

Thank you CIKE for such an informative and entertaining event!